


ocean deep

by dahyunayeon



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, Kind of Medieval AU, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:29:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24919129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dahyunayeon/pseuds/dahyunayeon
Summary: Sana takes Nayeon's hands and starts dragging her deeper into the sea."How do I know you're not gonna hypnotize me?" Nayeon half jokes, the water up to her knees."You're gonna have to trust me."
Relationships: Im Nayeon/Minatozaki Sana
Comments: 12
Kudos: 201





	ocean deep

**Author's Note:**

> commissioned by sam, thank u i love u <3

Sea waves wash over the shore smoothly. It’s a sunny day and the tide is high, but the beach is desolated. Sana has her cheek squished against her arm as she rests on the dock, not minding the tiny splinters poking her skin. She was bored in her kingdom under the sea so she decided to go up to the beach in hopes of finding a friendly lady willing to talk to her, at least for a short while, but none of the women Sana usually chatted with were anywhere to be seen.

A chill runs down Sana’s body when a gust of wind blows her wet skin. She submerges until only her eyes above water. Seeing as no one has come by the dock in hours, she starts to swim parallel to the coastline. It’s very quiet at the beach, but if she listens closely, she can hear some turmoil coming from behind the hills, where the village is. Sana keeps swimming, intent on finding someone that can entertain her. She finally sees a woman in the distance sitting on the sand, so she swims towards her excitedly.

The woman is young, with short brown hair just above her shoulders. She’s wearing a plain blue dress and a very sad look on her face. She looks dejected, sitting with her knees tucked in as she plays with the sand beneath her. She seems to have zoned off, so when she glances up and sees Sana but two meters away from her, she screams and flinches.

Sana backs away when she realizes the woman got scared. She stays close to the sand, keeping her distance and within the waters reach. Only her upper body is above the sea; her purple tail remains underwater. Once the woman gets over the initial shock, she looks at Sana properly. Her eyes are glossy as if she had been crying, but Sana can also see a spark of curiosity. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Sana smiles guiltily. The woman rubs her eyes for a moment.

“Where did you even come from?”

“From that dock over there, can you see it?” Sana points and glances towards the horizon, where the dock is barely a blurry spot in the distance. When she looks back at the woman, she sees her cheeks have turned bright red and she’s avoiding looking at Sana. The mermaid tilts her head, confused, until she remembers that she has nothing covering her torso other than her long red hair; and that humans don’t share the same values as merpeople. Sana modestly fixes her hair over her chest and retreats slightly back into the water.

“Anyway, I’m Sana. You are?” The woman clears her throat and tentatively looks at the mermaid. She hesitates for a second before replying.

“Nayeon.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Nayeon. I thought I would be all alone here today.”

“The kingdom is busy celebrating...” Nayeon says softly, almost in a whisper.

“Why aren’t you?” Sana asks out of pure curiosity, but the question makes Nayeon grimace.

“I really did not want to be there. So I left.”

Sana wants to ask further— she has a hard time keeping her curiosity in check —but Nayeon doesn’t seem very fond of the topic and Sana would hate to upset her. 

“I’ve never seen you around before, are you new to town?” Nayeon asks, and her eyes briefly glance down before she looks away, embarrassed.

“You could say that.” Sana giggles, entertained by the fact that Nayeon hasn’t noticed she isn’t a human yet. 

“You can go to the party if you wish; everyone is invited.”

“I don’t know what we’re celebrating.” Sana’s replies when talking to humans are always witty and quick; even when they try to be reserved, she finds a way to get the answers she’s looking for. 

“The Prince got engaged.” Nayeon shudders and it piques Sana’s interest. 

“I never heard anything about a Prince.”

“He came back to the kingdom after years of knight training… or so he says.” 

Nayeon bites her tongue after that, realizing she’s told more than she intended too. 

“Hm, in my kingdom we do things differently. The knights train personally with the king, in the castle.”

“Where are you from?” Nayeon squints at Sana, feeling wary. Something about the redhead is very unfamiliar to Nayeon, but she can’t pinpoint what— other than the fact that she has no problem being naked around strangers.

“You probably haven’t heard about it.” Sana giggles. Nayeon stands up and dusts the sand from her dress. She takes hesitant steps closer to Sana, who doesn’t move at all. The sun bounces off the water and it makes it difficult to see clearly, so Nayeon keeps inching closer. The water is up to her ankles when Sana, with a teasing grin on her face, decides to flap her tail. Nayeon screeches and loses her footing, falling onto the steep water and landing with her hands on the wet sand. 

Sana laughs when Nayeon struggles to stand up, knocked down by a particularly strong wave. Nayeon gets up and screams frustrated. She grabs her wet dress weighing her down and stumbles back to the sand.

“You- you’re a mermaid!” Nayeon gapes at Sana, but she doesn’t look all that surprised.

“Ah, so you  _ have  _ heard something.” 

Once Nayeon catches her breath, she approaches Sana again. She wasn’t scared, just taken aback. 

“The maidens in the village always talk about a red headed woman that appears by the shore to chat with them. They say she listens to them like no one else has, and-” Nayeon makes a pause to clear her throat. “They also said she’s of unmatched beauty.”

“Aww, is that really what they say? How nice of them!” Sana giggles.

“Yeah, but it’s more of a secret kept between a few of us. Their husbands think they’re crazy because they’ve never seen you, or anything alike. So they just keep to themselves.”

“And what about you? Did you also think they were lying?”

Nayeon muses for a moment, slowly getting closer to Sana, not minding that her dress is getting wet again.

“No. I wished for them to be speaking the truth.” Nayeon smiles for the first time. It’s small and shy, almost apologetic. “I thought I could really use knowing someone like that.” A wide grin covers Sana’s face as she swims closer to Nayeon.

“ Looks like it’s your lucky day, then .” 

“I’m not sure I want to talk right now, though.”

Sana delicately takes Nayeon’s hands and starts dragging her deeper into the sea. “That’s alright. I just want you to swim with me.”

“How do I know you’re not gonna hypnotize me?” Nayeon half jokes, the water up to her knees.

“You’re gonna have to trust me.” Her voice is sincere, devoid of the playful tone she had had so far. Nayeon lets herself be dragged until the water reaches her chin. 

Sana smiles, wide and bright, blinding. Nayeon submerges with her.

━

The sun has set long ago, and only the few rays of moonlight that slip through the clouds illuminate the way as Nayeon walks back to the village. Her clothes are soaked and her hair is damp. Her heart beats wildly in her chest. Her cheeks hurt from smiling.

━

Sana starts swimming to the surface earlier than usual and returns home later as well . Nayeon isn’t at the beach the next day, or the day after that, and quickly a week passes without Nayeon. It’s odd for Sana to get attached to a human, but there was something about Nayeon that drew her in. 

Every time Sana comes home— with sunburnt cheeks and without having seen Nayeon —she tries to not feel disappointed; tells herself maybe tomorrow she’ll be luckier. She still pouts as she goes to sleep. 

The other women she talks to do show up, and Sana has a nice time with them by her usual spot in the dock. Sana asks them about the Prince, since Nayeon didn’t give her any more information after her slip of the tongue. 

Sana learns that he’s in his late twenties, is very handsome (according to them) and that he got dismissed from knight training earlier than his peers for “being very talented and gifted at dueling.” Sana arches an eyebrow when she hears that bit, but doesn't say anything. They also tell her that he is set to marry soon; in an arranged marriage with a noble girl from a poor kingdom. Some of the women seem more fond of the Prince than others; while the villagers fawn over him and his looks, the maidens that work at the castle all have a slight frown while talking about him, and aren’t nearly as flattering.

With all the information she gets by the end of the day, Sana decides that she doesn’t like the Prince. He sounds conceited, rude, and overall a person she doesn’t wish to meet. 

Three days later, Sana meets him.

Sana is on the beach as usual, keeping an eye out for Nayeon. She had a bit of a routine, she would swim a few laps around the shore, but ultimately would always come back to the dock. This time, as she approached it, she saw a figure sitting on it with its feet dangling off the edge. As she swam closer, trying to hide below the water, she recognized the figure to be a young man, one she hasn’t seen before. Sana considered concluding her day and just swimming back home— she never talked to men, the few fishermen who managed to see her always made her uncomfortable and more often than not were rude and obscene to her. 

But alas, Sana can’t help her curious nature. She tries to get a good look from underwater, but all she sees is a silhouette. Then she hears a drowned out voice, which seems to be directed at her. Sana stills and listens with attention, and indeed, the man is calling for her.

Sana knows she shouldn’t, but part of her argues that whatever happens, she can always swim back home— it’s not like any human would be able to follow her all the way down. She peeks her eyes out of the water slowly, bewaring the man. 

He looks straight into Sana’s eyes the second she’s on the surface. The man has a pale complexion, black hair swept over one side of his head, and a sharp jawline and nose. He’s wearing a fancy vest and Sana thinks she sees a sword attached to his belt. 

“So the rumors are true.” He smirks at her, and Sana grimaces. “I thought my maids were being silly, making up stories about some strange woman that lives in the ocean. But I see they’re right.”

Sana stays silent, trying to decipher if the man is dangerous or not. 

“You’ve made quite an impression on them. You’re the talk of the palace.”

It dawns on Sana that the man in front of her is none other than the Prince, the man she’s been hearing so much about over the last few days. 

(Sana can confirm she does  _ not  _ like him.)

“There’s no need to be shy, sweetheart. I’m here to talk, get to meet you.” He inches closer to the water, trying to get a better look at Sana. “After all, a Prince ought to know those that live on his land, don’t you think? And it seems to me you spend an awful amount of time here, on  _ my  _ beach, talking to  _ my  _ subjects.”

His smirks wavers slightly when Sana doesn’t react to his title like he expected. He runs a hand through his hair and tries again. 

“Why don’t you come closer, honey? A beautiful creature like you should be on my good side; you’ll find it to be quite useful.” More silence follows. Sana eyes him up and down with a scowl and decides it’s time to go. She doesn’t spare another glance at him before turning around, swimming away. 

The Prince stays on the dock, watching her shape disappear into the ocean. His once confident smirk turns into a frown. 

━

After their brief encounter, it seems like the Prince can’t leave Sana alone. He’s always at the dock, and even when Sana swims away, he interrupts her conversations at the beach and shoos the maidens away. 

It becomes so annoying, that Sana avoids going to the surface for days. She stays at home, roaming the halls of the palace and visiting the townspeople. She doesn’t have many duties, seeing as her older sister Momo is the one to inherit the throne, so she can do as she pleases. 

Still, despite the effort to distract herself, Sana can’t get Nayeon out of her mind. They had spent a single afternoon together, barely exchanged words, but Sana wants to know more about her.

She decides to try her luck and return to the surface. Unlike the day when she met Nayeon, the sky is gray, full of clouds, and strong wind blows. The beach is empty, except for one person sitting on the dock. 

Sana feels her heart leap when she recognizes Nayeon. She swims excitedly over to her and slowly starts emerging, not wanting to scare Nayeon again. It’s easy for Nayeon to spot Sana’s bright red hair, in clear contrast with the dark sea. She breaks into a smile and feels a sense of fondness wash over her. 

“I didn’t think you’d come back.” Sana rests against the wood in her usual position, tail flapping happily under the water. Nayeon sits more comfortably to face Sana. “You look stunning.”

Nayeon blushes and playfully splashes some water to Sana’s face.

“I tried coming back, but I had some issues I needed to deal with. Still do, actually...”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m just happy you’re here now.”

Sana stretches her hand, palm upwards and fingers stretched for Nayeon to take. The woman complies, her touch warm against Sana’s cold skin. However, Sana’s loving smile disappears when she notices the ring wrapped around Nayeon’s finger. It’s a silver band with a tiny diamond on top. Sana doesn't have any doubts that it’s an engagement ring. Nayeon retracts her hand when she realizes Sana has seen it. She didn’t mean for her to find out— Sana didn’t need to know and Nayeon didn’t want to risk upsetting her.

Sana tries to smile for Nayeon’s sake, but the woman doesn’t look very thrilled about being engaged either. 

“It’s a pretty ring...”

“The best in the whole kingdom.” 

Both women turn their heads to see the man walking towards them. It’s the Prince, walking cocky as ever. Sana rolls her eyes and gets away from the dock. Nayeon follows her with worried eyes.

The Prince sits down next to Nayeon and wraps an arm around her. She looks beyond uncomfortable.

“You love that ring, don’t you dear?” He shakes Nayeon a little, but she only looks disgusted and doesn’t reply. Sana feels anger bubbling up inside of her, seeing how he treats her. Such a foul person didn’t deserve someone like Nayeon. He places his attention on Sana, and with a wicked smile says “I see you have no problem talking to my fiance, so why won’t you speak to me as well?”

Sana refuses to answer him, instead she rolls her eyes. He doesn’t like it one bit.

“Nayeon, you should invite your friend to lunch so I can get to know her.” He laughs wickedly, tightening his grip on Nayeon’s arm.

“Don’t be stupid-”

“I’d love to.” Sana speaks up, her gaze sharp and defiant as she stares directly at the Prince. 

His jaw slacks and Nayeon looks at Sana like she’s crazy.

“When should I go?”

━

In front of a mirror, Nayeon flattens the creases of her dress with sweaty palms. She fixes the shiny hair clip holding her hair out of her face and takes a deep breath. She glances out the window, where the glass is still dotted with raindrops that fell earlier in the morning. 

Sana is supposed to arrive at the castle in less than an hour. When the Prince suggested Sana join them for lunch, Nayeon thought of it as a mere joke, another of his ways of making fun of people. But then Sana agreed, without a trace of doubt in her face. He set the date and time, and Sana merely nodded before submerging. 

Nayeon tried to reason with him that it would be impossible for Sana to go to the palace, but he insisted on the maids preparing a feast and getting everything set. He put on his most expensive clothes and demanded Nayeon do the same.

She takes one last look at herself in the mirror and leaves her chambers, going downstairs to the main hall where a large table has been set. The Prince is already sitting at the end, clutching a big glass of wine and wearing a cheshire grin. Nayeon sits down to his right quietly, barely sparing him a glance. The clock on the wall marks one minute before Sana is supposed to arrive. Nayeon plays with the fabric of her dress nervously.

The clock strikes eleven, and the heavy doors of the hall open. Nayeon’s jaw drops when Sana comes waltzing in— on a pair of very real, very human-looking legs. Not only that, but she’s wearing an elegant patterned gown, a golden tiara adorned with green jewels, a shiny sword attached to her back by a sling, and a fire in her eyes that has Nayeon gulping. Behind Sana comes a foreign looking guard, with piercing green eyes and long blonde hair. She bears on her chest a crest that Nayeon can’t recognize and her fist is wrapped around a trident. The guard stands next to Sana and clears her throat.

“Before you, Princess Sana of Atlantis.” 

The look on the Prince’s face is priceless— Nayeon wishes there was a way to capture that image forever. 

“So kind of you to invite me, it’s been a while since a neighboring kingdom has reached out to us.” Sana scrutinizes the castle and gives her guard an accomplice look, a mischievous smile. “You shall wait for me outside, Mina.”

“Yes, your highness.”

Sana confidently walks towards the seat in front of Nayeon, left to the Prince. Nayeon can’t hide her smile when she sees the usually insufferable man rendered speechless. 

“You didn’t mention you were a royal.” His jaw is clenched in his best effort to keep calm.

“You didn’t ask.” Sana smirks. She takes the napkin from beside the plate and sets it on her lap. “So, what’s for lunch?”

He gulps nervously and snaps his fingers. Maids flood the hall, delivering dozens of silver platters and wine bottles. He tries to grab Nayeon’s hand over the table, but she dodges him and moves her hands to her lap.

The feast begins, but most of the food the man had put on display— to impress who he thought was a simple creature —goes unnoticed. Nayeon can’t take her eyes off Sana, and neither can the mermaid. 

The Prince tries to act unbothered as a maid fills his glass with wine. He tries to start a conversation, but Sana barely replies. In the end it’s not a problem, since he loves talking about himself. With each new anecdote he tells come two more glasses of wine. While he slurs about his adventures at the knight training camp, Nayeon seems to be in a trance by Sana and everything she does. She can’t help but follow her every move with her eyes and let out dreamy sighs— much like the first time they met, she feels pulled towards Sana in ways she can’t describe. 

When they’re all done with the courses, Sana dabs the napkin over her mouth and shoots Nayeon a wink before addressing the Prince.

“It sounds like you’re a very experienced knight.”

“The best in the kingdom.” He burps. “The future king ought to be the very best.” He puffs out his chest, thinking Sana was complimenting him. He never expected her next words.

“Surely enough then, you won’t mind dueling with me.” He snaps his neck to stare at Sana like she had grown a second head. A beat of silence, and then he breaks out laughing. It’s not a pleasant sound.

“You! Want to duel- with me! Have you gone mad?” He slaps the table, making the cutlery  jum p and knocking down his glass. 

“Unless you’re afraid of defeat.” Sana says with a smile, her tone is anything but friendly. This works on erasing the smirk from the Prince’s face. He practically growls at Sana as he stands up, with a stumble, trying to look intimidating and failing.

“You will regret your words.”

━

Dark grey clouds cover the castle grounds. Nayeon stands by the side of the field where Sana and the Prince are getting ready. The Prince changed into an armour— one of his simplest ones, but still very shiny and  expensive . Sana, on the other hand, discarded her gown in favor of simple robes and a chest piece with her kingdom’s crest on it. She’s talking with her guard in a language Nayeon doesn’t understand, and one would think she would be slightly nervous about dueling with a man that’s a head taller, but she looks calm. The Prince is making a show of filing his sword. A royal guard was called to act as a mediator, and he lets them know they have to start now. 

“Although you do not deserve it, I will go easy on you.” He babbles, his eyes slightly unfocused.

Sana merely scoffs and gets in a fight stance. The Prince surges forward for the first blow, which Sana easily dodges. He attacks three more times, and Sana avoids him with ease. He huffs and moves his hair out of his face, annoyed. Sana looks bored.

“Come on, don’t be a coward, attack!” The Prince yells. Sana tilts her head and looks at him with pity.

With surprising speed, Sana strikes. He barely manages to avoid one hit before Sana knocks him down. He slips on the muddy ground, breathing heavily as he struggles to stand back up. He thinks he can catch Sana off guard. He’s clouded by anger, and when he pounces on her like an animal, Sana simply steps to the side before slicing her sword through his chest piece,  the cut clean as a knife on butter . He takes a step back and Sana, unforgiving, starts assaulting him with fast strikes. 

Sana hits the Prince’s armour with her sword a couple of times, successfully scratching and slicing through the metal. With a final kick to his chest, now covered only by a thin undershirt, the Prince falls onto a pool of mud. His hands and feet get swallowed by the soft ground, and Sana once again presses her blade to his neck. 

The knight ends the duel, clearly deeming Sana the champion. Sana hasn’t even messed up her hair or broken a sweat, she looks perfect as the moment she walked into the palace. Nayeon feels something weird in her chest and warmth in her face and ears. She forgets all about the Prince, wailing and whining on the floor; and runs towards Sana. She jumps into her arms, and although Sana is surprised by the action, she hugs her back just as tight, careful to not hurt Nayeon.

“That was- wow…” Nayeon opens and closes her mouth searching for words. “You know, you could’ve told me you were a Princess and, like, a professional knight?” Nayeon smiles in awe, feeling her heart do somersaults at the sight of Sana smiling at her so sweetly. 

“I would’ve, had I gotten the chance to see you again.” Sana gives her sword to Mina and removes her chest piece, totally intact. They’re soon left alone, the Prince long gone, too humiliated to stay there.

Nayeon looks bashful as she plays with her hair. “I tried to, I really did. But I had trouble sneaking out of the castle.”

“You don’t need to explain anything.” Sana cups Nayeon’s cheek and the woman melts into her touch. 

“You do, though.” Nayeon chuckles. She motions to Sana’s legs and raises an eyebrow. “How did this happen?”

“We have our ways… but I need to be back before sunset.” Sana shrugs, laughing with Nayeon at how silly it sounds.

“And is there a way for humans to go to your kingdom?” Nayeon asks with a hopeful glint in her eyes.

“There is, yeah. But it’s a bit complicated.” Nayeon bites her lip and looks down to hide her disappointment. Sana chuckles and lifts her chin. “I can always come back to the beach, you know?”

“I doubt I’ll be allowed out of the castle after this.” Nayeon rolls her eyes; thinking about her future next to the Prince always brought a sour taste to her mouth.

“Why are you doing this?” Sana asks slowly, also feeling sad at the prospect of Nayeon marrying that prick.

“This marriage is the only way I can keep my kingdom from going into total poverty.”

Sana hums, and Nayeon can see a special twinkle in her eyes. “You know, my kingdom has plenty of wealth.” Nayeon’s eyes open wide and Sana blushes. She starts to babble,  trying to correct her words . “I mean, your king and my father should talk, I can set up a meeting, or I could-”

“Sana.” Nayeon interrupts. She reaches forward to cup Sana’s face and stop her rambling. For once, Sana’s skin is warm. 

“What I’m trying to say is… you really don’t need to marry that guy.” Sana grimaces in disgust. Nayeon laughs and rubs Sana’s red cheeks.

“You don’t need to say more to convince me, I’m in.” Nayeon’s eyes flicker from Sana’s eyes to her lips. “How could I ever repay you for saving me?”

Sana stammers in her answer. “You really don’t owe me anything, it’s the least I could do. Besides, I’m sure my father would be happy to help, he-”

“Sana,” Nayeon interrupts again with a chuckle.

“Sorry…”

“I’m going to kiss you now.” 

Sana’s blush deepens, but she nods. She wets her lips with the tip of her tongue, nervous. “Yeah, you can do that.”

Nayeon is shy at first, until Sana holds her by the waist to bring her closer. Kissing Sana feels right,  like she should’ve been doing it for a long time, but only got the chance to now . Their lips slot perfectly together and Nayeon feels lightheaded. When the kiss ends, Sana looks at her with glossy eyes and a dumbfounded smile.

“You know, now that I think about it, I could arrange a trip for you to come to Atlantis right now.” Sana says breathless. Nayeon throws her head back in laughter. When she calms down, she grabs Sana’s hand and starts leading her towards the gates. “Are you not going to pack?”

“I don’t have anything of value, not here.”

They arrive at the beach, and it’s Sana’s turn to lead Nayeon. Just like the first time they met, Sana holds her with the utmost care as they walk into the sea. When the water is up to their knees, Sana pauses to look at Nayeon. Her eyes are kind, much like her smile and the way she caresses Nayeon’s hand.

“Do you trust me?” Her voice is small, almost carried away by the wind blowing on their faces. 

Nayeon kisses her cheek to ease her nerves. “With all my heart.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank uuuuuu for reading! twt and cc: dahyunayeon


End file.
